The present invention relates generally to design and configuration of teeth and corresponding holding brackets used on machines for tree stump cutting and grinding. These brackets are sometimes referred to as “pocket” in the industry.
Modem tree stump cutting and grinding machines in general have a rotary disc (or wheel) driven by motor; the disc has multiple teeth attached at the outer edge of the disc so that when the disc is spinning/rotating, the teeth on the edge repeatedly cuts towards the tree stump, or any work piece.
A tooth/pocket design is discussed and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,435. All prior art in the implementation of such tooth/pocket design, however, has at least three disadvantages:                (1) when a new tooth is installed into its pocket, the length of its protrusion outward from the pocket (the portion containing the cutting carbide tip) must be properly gauged; uneven length on the protruding teeth usually results in higher damage rate on the teeth;        (2) to prevent uneven length on the protruding teeth, the installation time needed will increase, depending on the number of teeth being replaces/installed;        (3) the contact surface between the tooth and its pocket is flat; if the clamping power provided by the pocket is lessened, through wear and tear, the tooth could slip out by the very centrifugal force at work;        